"We feel like we lost one [of our] family members," says Passang Sherpa, a guide who works for Tent & Trails in Manhattan. He's climbed Everest several times and has lost loved ones on expeditions. "This is very painful."

The Sherpa community is small, Passang says, and if the losses continue, he fears his people will simply disappear. A lot of Sherpas have grown up with this constant anxiety of losing their people to the mountain, or of dying themselves; their families have begged them to quit climbing.

The first climb to the summit, they'll tell you, is thrilling. And then invariably, it becomes a job, one that pays really well for Nepalis and brings in plenty of wealthy tourists. But it is also among the most dangerous occupations in the world.

Serap Sherpa, a co-worker of Passang's at Tent & Trails, is one of Nepal's greatest climbers. And yet, he always prays at the beginning of a climb.

"[But] normally, when we climbing, we just pray: 'Om mani padme hum,' " Serap says. "That mantra is very powerful mantra, and that protects you [with] safety and long life. But ... if there's a wrong time, even the mantra cannot protect them."

The Sherpa reputation can't be divorced from this danger, or for that matter, the sacred status of the mountains. Long before the British slapped their own name on it, the Sherpas called Everest Chomolangma, "Goddess Mother of the World." But the Sherpas' international reputation is relatively recent.

That reputation stems from the legendary climb to the summit of Everest in 1953, by Edmund Hillary and a Sherpa named Tenzing Norgay. Hillary spoke of Norgay with much respect as a climbing partner, a guide and someone who saved his life. But as the English-speaking Westerner, Hillary's is the name that many in the West associate with Everest.

Ed Viesturs, one of the world's foremost climbers, has been to the summit of Everest seven times. He says that Sherpas are invariably sidelined by Westerners in their accounts of expeditions.

"They'll show a list of climbers who might have reached the summit on a particular day, and it would list all the names of all the Westerners and it will say after that, 'and six Sherpa,' " Viesturs says. "It's almost like an afterthought."

There's also the vast cultural difference between the climbers. What is a sacred space for many Sherpas, is now increasingly a tourist destination for well-heeled foreigners. Viesturs says he resents how the Sherpas are doing more and more of the labor on these expeditions, as their foreign clients are doing less.

"You should earn your way to the top. You should contribute, you should carry some loads of equipment [and] you should help set up a camp," he says. "You shouldn't just sit around waiting for that red carpet to roll out."

Viesturs argues that the Nepali guide companies have actually perpetuated this problem, and notes that this shouldn't be seen as a simple issue of exploitation. He and the Sherpas who spoke to NPR say Sherpas have reaped great benefits from this system and are fully aware of the risks.

But Viesturs hopes something will change on the part of the climbers who travel all the way to Nepal to scale mountains like Everest: that they give full credit to the people who took them all the way to the top.

The deaths of 16 guides on Mount Everest last week has prompted an industry crisis in Nepal. Dozens of Sherpas packed up and left the mountain. Expedition companies have canceled planned trips, and government officials are desperately trying to salvage the climbing season. The largest community of Sherpas in America resides in Queens, N.Y. And reporter Arun Venugopal, of member station WNYC, spoke to some of them about how climbing defines them as a people, for better and worse.

ARUN VENUGOPAL SHERPA, BYLINE: Sherpas have a reputation as the world's best climbers. And you may have thought this word Sherpa is some sort of honorific or title. But they're actually an ethnic group - a tiny one, around 150,000 of them in Nepal, a couple thousand here in New York. And if you are a Sherpa, it's right there in your name, like Ang Galgen Sherpa of Woodside, Queens.

ANG GALGEN SHERPA: I drove yellow taxi for 12 years in New York City.

VENUGOPAL: He used to guide people through the Himalayas before moving here and becoming like a lot of Sherpas, a cab driver.

GALGEN: Every time a customer gets in, I think, they look at my name, if somebody happens to blink his eyes and look at my license, look Sherpa. So, you are you a Sherpa? Are you really a Sherpa? I say, yeah, I'm really a Sherpa, you know.

VENUGOPAL: And then what is their first question?

GALGEN: Have you climbed Everest?

VENUGOPAL: He has not, but the question makes him feel incredibly proud. Of course, the deaths of so many Sherpa climbers last week was felt pretty profoundly by people like Passang Sherpa, a guide who works for Tent and Trails in Manhattan. He's climbed Everest several times, and he's lost loved ones on expeditions.

PASSANG SHERPA: We feel like we lost one family members, and even this year is like...

VENUGOPAL: He choked up even as his customers were milling around us shopping for equipment. The Sherpa community is small, he said; and if it keeps going like that, he fears his people will simply disappear. A lot of Sherpas have grown up with this constant anxiety of losing their people to the mountain or of dying themselves.

Many Sherpas I spoke to said their families beg them to quit climbing. The first climb to the summit, they'll tell you, is thrilling. And then invariably it becomes a job, one that pays really well for Nepalis and brings in lots of wealthy tourists but is also among the most dangerous in the world. Serap Jongbun Sherpa is one of Passang's co-workers at Tent and Trails. He's also one of Nepal's greatest climbers. And yet he always prays at the beginning of a climb.

SERAP JONGBUN SHERPA: Normally, when we are climbing, we just pray, you know, om mani padme hum.

VENUGOPAL: Om mani padme hum.

JONGBUN: That mantra is very powerful mantra. And that protects you - you know, safety and a long life. If there's wrong time, then even the mantra cannot protect them.

VENUGOPAL: The Sherpa reputation cannot be divorced from this danger or, for that matter, from the sacred status of the mountains. Long before the British slapped their own name on it, the Sherpas called Everest Goddess Chomolangma, Mother of the World. But the Sherpas' international reputation is relatively recent.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NEWSREEL)

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Everest conquered the New Zealand...

VENUGOPAL: And stems from that legendary climb to the summit of Everest in 1953, Edmund Hillary and a Sherpa named Tenzing Norgay.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NEWSREEL)

SIR EDMUND HILLARY: Tenzing and I have been climbing together a good deal, and I think we've become a fairly happy pair.

VENUGOPAL: Hillary spoke of Tenzing Norgay with a lot of respect as a climbing partner, a guide, someone who saved his life. But of course, Hillary was the English-speaking Westerner, and his is the name that many people associate with Everest.

Ed Viesturs is one of the world's foremost climbers. He's been to the summit of Everest seven times and says that Sherpas are invariably sidelined by Westerners in their accounts of expeditions.

ED VIESTURS: They'll show a list of climbers that might have reached the summit on a particular day. And it will list all the names of all the Westerners and then it will say after that, and six Sherpa. It's almost like an afterthought.

VENUGOPAL: There's also the vast cultural difference. What is a sacred space for many Sherpas is now increasingly a tourist destination for well-heeled foreigners. Viesturs says he resents how the Sherpas are doing more and more of the labor on these expeditions, and their foreign clients are doing less.

VIESTURS: You should earn your way to the top. You should carry some loads of equipment, you should help set up a camp. You shouldn't just sit around and wait for that red carpet to be rolled out.

VENUGOPAL: But Viesturs argues that the Nepali guide companies have actually perpetuated this problem, and that this shouldn't be seen as a simple issue of exploitation. He and the Sherpas I spoke to say the Sherpas have reaped great benefits from this system and are fully aware of the risks.

But he hopes something will change on the part of the climbers who travel all the way to Nepal to scale mountains like Everest - that they give full credit to the people who took them all the way to the top.